Sunflower markets end the week mixed

USDA delivered bearish news to traders in their November report. USDA pegged soybean production at a record 4.6 billion bushels, down 90 million bushels, or about 2 percent, from the October forecast. However, domestic soybean ending stocks came in at 955 million bushels, up 70 million bushels from last month as USDA reduced soybean exports by 160 million bushels on lower sales forecasts to China. Sunflower harvest continues to slowly move along in the U.S. Most states are equal to or trailing the five-year average harvest pace per USDA. Wet and below normal cold weather has hampered harvest progress in the largest production area of the Dakotas and Minnesota. In the past week, producers harvested an additional 102,900 acres pushing 2018 harvested acres to more than 710,000 acres. This represents 62 percent of this year’s projected harvested acres and is behind the five-year average. Last year at this time 81 percent of the crop was harvested. Seed quality remains generally very good. Sunflower prices at the crush plants ended the week mixed at unchanged to up 5 cents. New crop sunflower prices are out at the crush plants with cash and Act of God contracts available. Something else to consider is the oil premiums that crush plants pay on sunflower.With the USDA production estimate in the market and harvest wrapping up in the Northern Hemisphere attention now shifts to demand and to South America’s crops.